Trump Taps Former Ted Cruz Aide for Texas District Judgeship

President Donald Trump plans to nominate a former top aide to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for a federal judgeship in the state as well as two others for trial court seats in Alaska and Arkansas.

Nicholas Ganjei, who’s been serving as a US attorney in Texas this year and was Cruz’s chief nominations counsel, is Trump’s choice for a seat on the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Ganjei joined the Justice Department in 2008 as an assistant US attorney and prosecuted a range of matters that included organized crime, immigration, narcotics, and human trafficking, as well as white collar cases. He also clerked for two US appellate courts, according to a Justice Department bio.

Aaron Peterson, a senior assistant attorney general for the state of Alaska, is Trump’s pick for a US district judgeship in the state. He’ll fill one of two vacancy on the court. One vacancy was created by Joshua Kindred’s abrupt resignation last year, following findings that he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a former clerk.

Both of Alaska’s Republican senators, Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, support Peterson.

David Clay Fowlkes, the US attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, is Trump’s choice for a judgeship there.

The announcements come after the Senate Judiciary Committee had already received nomination disclosures for the picks. The trend is a departure from recent prior administrations, including Joe Biden’s, that provided the committee with a nominee’s disclosure paperwork on the same day the White House announced the president’s plans publicly.

Trump this term typically announces judicial nominees on Truth Social, a social media platform he founded.

The disclosures known as Senate Judiciary Questionnaires include full biographical, financial, career, and other personal details of nominees, and are central to the Senate committee vetting process.